Books by Andy Markovits

The German Predicament
Memory & Power in the New Europe

What does the unification of Germany really mean? In their stimulating
exploration of that question, Andrei S. Markovits and Simon Reich
sketch diametrically different interpretations that are frequently
offered by commentators. One is that Germany, well aware of the Holocaust,
has been "Europeanized" and is now prepared to serve as the capitalist
and democratic locomotive that powers Europe. The other is that the
proclivities behind Auschwitz have been suppressed rather than obliterated
from the German psyche. Germany's liberal democracy was imposed by
the allied victors, according to this view, and will one day dissolve,
revealing the old expansionist tendencies to try to "Germanize" all
of Europe.

Markovits and Reich argue that benign contemporary assessments of
Germany's postwar democracy, combined with admiration for the country's
economic achievements, contribute to a German influence far greater
than military might was able to achieve. Yet, at the same time, some
Germans have internalized liberal and pacifist principles and now
see their nation as powerless, simply a larger Switzerland. As a result,
while the Germans have enormous influence and latitutde, they have
not taken responsibility for leadership. The prime reason for this
gap between ideology and structure, Markovits and Reich suggest, lies
in the politics of collective memory.